Holding the mirror up to gym-goers
On crossing the threshold of a gym, one encounters a bevy of motley characters in variegated shapes and sizes in the trendiest of attires embellished with the latest gadgets. It’s a cosmopolitan culture out there with blaring music playing through the speakers, ranging from Babbu Mann to DJ Aqeel to Shakira. One can also witness the latest fashion in sports wear to sports gear. But what’s most interesting is the type of people who visit the gym.
Gym-goers can be broadly classified into seven categories. The first category is the religious type for whom gyms are the temples of modern India. They are body-builders with six-pack abs and biceps bursting out of their T-shirt sleeves. They talk of nothing but protein
diet and the number of crunches, push-ups and sit-ups undertaken during their fitness routine. They are invariably found in front of mirrors, flexing their muscles and admiring their beefy bodies from all possible angles.
The second type is the soonto-be married types. Their body status ranges from plump to obese to very obese. Their conversation is based on only one question: How fast can one lose weight? They keep shifting their gym hours owing to their shopping trips in light of the approaching wedding date. Once they get married, they are to be found nowhere near the gym.
The third type are the fitness freaks. They are punctual and never skip the gym routine come rain or shine. They are usually found on the treadmill, sweating profusely and burning their everyday calories. They neither look around nor interact with anybody. They are target-oriented and leave the gym as soon as their goal is achieved.
The fourth category is the friendly happy-go-lucky ones. They smile at everyone irrespective of whether they know the person or not. They’ll enter into a friendly banter with the gym instructors and you’ll hardly find them on the exercise equipment.
Then there is the fifth type, the ‘ghar se nikale hue’. These are the ones who have been forcibly sent to the gym by their well-wishers for their betterment. These are further classified into two categories: The overweight and the underweight. Their parents, husbands, wives or children have forced them to join the gym so that they focus on their fitness. Ironically, this category is the least focused. They while away their time at the gym by doing an exercise in a lot more time than required and ensure that as soon as they leave the gym, they commit the sin of gluttony. Ultimately, this category never loses any weight and they give up the fitness regimen at the first available opportunity.
The sixth type of gym birds are seasonal. They join and quit the gym on a regular basis. They are like migratory birds. Their topic of conversation, like a true English gentleman, hovers around the weather. They tend to hibernate during extreme winter and summer and are to be found frequenting the gym during a favourable climate.
The seventh category belongs to the nothing-elseto-do types. They usually comprise of the ‘just free from exams’ students and bored housewives. They mostly come in pairs or groups and are often the most noisy or boisterous who have to laugh out loud at everything and anything. They spend an hour in the gym and another hour is spent outside saying goodbyes.
All said and done, it sure is a lively atmosphere in the gym with wonderful people sweating it out to attain fit and shapely bodies.
By the way, there is also the eighth type: The observer. Need I say anything further!
THEY JOIN AND QUIT THE GYM ON A REGULAR BASIS. THEY ARE LIKE MIGRATORY BIRDS